The Superorganism

Insect societies have been likened to superorganisms since the early 20th century because they are organized around defense, nutrition, and reproduction, like our own bodies. Like individual organisms, they undergo development and separate the germ line (eggs and sperm in our case) from the body cells, the soma. In social insects, the germ line is sequestered in the reproductive individuals, while the body cells are the non-reproductive workers. The superorganism was proposed by William Morton Wheeler as a real entity but instead was used primarily as a metaphor, a structure for hanging analogies with human organisms and societies. Throughout the 20th century there were many twists and turns in the definition and use of the superorganism concept and many questions regarding its usefulness.